Single Lung Transplant Reported From Toronto

May 1, 1986|United Press International

BOSTON — Canadian doctors Wednesday reported the first successful transplant of single lungs into patients suffering from a respiratory disease.

Researchers at the University of Toronto said four of five victims of pulmonary fibrosis who underwent the operation were leading normal lives, including one patient who underwent the operation more than three years ago.

``This opens up a new era for patients with respiratory failure. It begins to do for patients suffering from lung disease what heart transplants have done for people dying of heart disease,`` Dr. Joel D. Cooper, who headed the Toronto Lung Transplant Group that performed the operations, said.

While successful heart-and-lung transplants have been performed for heart disease patients and a handful of lung patients, the operations represent the first successful replacement of a single lung, said Cooper.

By only transplanting one lung, the patient undergoes a less traumatic operation and the second lung of a donor could be used for another patient, Cooper said. In addition, operations can be performed when only one suitable donor lung is available.

Cooper cautioned, however, that the operation is currently only suitable for victims of one form of lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and the number of operations is still severely limited by the small supply for available donors.

But Cooper, who reported his work in The New England Journal of Medicine, said the operations mark the first successes after more than 40 attempts and research is underway that might make lung transplants eventually possible for victims of other respiratory illnesses, such as emphysema.

Pulmonary fibrosis affects about 89,000 patients annually in the United States and is usually fatal within six years. The cause is unknown.

Patients suffering from heart disease often require new lungs because their respiratory system has been affected by their heart disease.

Doctors have been attempting single-lung transplants for respiratory patients since 1963. Previously, the longest survival period for a victim of pulmonary fibrosis who received a single lung transplant operation was eight months.

Cooper attributed the successes primarily to a new surgical technique. A section of tissue from the abdomen sealed the connection between the new lung and the breathing tube. Without the abdomen tissue, the seal had always previously failed.